


In vino veritas

by Fenris90



Category: Free!
Genre: Alcohol, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nagisa is a menace, Swimming Boys, too many idiots in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 12:56:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17325410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fenris90/pseuds/Fenris90
Summary: Asahi and Hiyori get Kisumi drunk, and he confesses to Makoto. Anxiety and panic attacks ensue.





	1. Disaster strikes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bespectacled_Owl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bespectacled_Owl/gifts).



> Since Japan has such a high drinking age, and Makoto is Makoto, the 20th birthday party is in November 2019, because 2020 would mean post-Olympics

It was Tachibana's 20th birthday, so the whole gang had taken advantage of the occasion. Rin himself had come back from Australia for some time, dragging coach Mikhail with him – why waste training time when your coach can take the chance to visit his favourite nephew? - and everyone had been invited. Hidaka, Shimogami, senpai and kouhai. Despite no longer being a competitive swimmer, Makoto's friendliness and his hard work to become a professional coach had endeared him to them all.  
They had ended up crowding Nanase's apartment for dinner before heading out to a club. They had wanted to have dinner out as well, but after what had been dubbed the A.P.I. , or the “Alcoholic Penguin Incident” they just couldn't. The details, now shrouded in secrecy, had at the time reached even their universities, where they had all been officially reprimanded. Nowadays none of them could even look at sake without getting cold shivers. Luckily the freestyle fanatic hosting them was a good enough cook as to not make them regret it further. They had to thank Matsuoka though, as without his assistance in the kitchen their host would have ended up cooking only mackerel, and enough for an army.  
The club they went to was a recent addition to the Tokyo night life, and it had been suggested by the Shimogami students, as their former captain, Hoshikawa, was currently bartending there; he had already been warned to not get alcohol even in the simple vicinity of Nagisa, and Rei and Gou were keeping an eye out for any attempt at drinking by the blonde. Despite being there as a group, they quickly separated, with some going to the dance floor, some taking a table, and some sitting at the bar. Hiyori went to the counter himself, talking to his senpai and paying for a whole tray of drinks that looked like they packed quite the punch. It should have been the first sign of the upcoming apocalypse, since there was no way those drinks were all for him, but nobody noticed. As a cry about a hour later demonstrated, that may have been a big mistake.

“HARUUUUUUU!” cried Makoto.  
Haru, however, barely moved his eyes from his drink. It wasn't the first time his best friend had acted like that, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Only after he had finally given his full attention to the aspiring coach did he notice that the expected anxious look in those emerald eyes was paired off with a full-blown blush.  
“What happened?” sighed the raven-haired swimmer, accepting his fate.  
Makoto was working himself to a frenzy. “It’s Kisumi! He found me, and – and, he was really drunk! And he told me he had another gift for me, and.... he kissed me! Oh my God! And he said that he really likes me!”  
“My condolences”, deadpanned Haru.  
“This is serious Haru!” complained the brunette.  
“You’re right, you’re right… My heartfelt condolences? Is that better?” was the answer.  
Makoto's savior suddenly draped himself all over Haruka. Matsuoka Rin, temporarily back from Australia, had a drink in one hand, while the other arm was hugging his boyfriend.  
“Eh eh Haru, what did we say about mistreating Makoto? Stop it, look at him! He looks worse than Bambi finding his dead mother! Come on Makoto, tell me everything, don't know why you would confide in my boyfriend, you know he's emotionally stunted.”  
And Makoto did tell Rin everything that had happened. The redhead, however, did not see the cause for such an anxiety attack, and said so to his old friend. After all, it wasn't exactly a secret among the former Iwatobi boys that the backstroke swimmer had been in love with the exhuberant Kisumi since they first met. The brunette, however, explained about his panicking and blank response to the confession; Rin now understood, but told Makoto to just give it a bit of time , to let his anxiety and the pinkette's hungover pass, before meeting Kisumi privately and finally confessing properly. The birthday boy took a deep breath and nodded. 

Later on, after the group had parted ways, three young men stumbled their way home.  
“This was a horrible idea”, grumbled Asahi, with Kisumi's left arm draped over his shoulder.  
“Come on, you know it had to be done! How long has he been pining over Tachibana?” answered his boyfriend from the drunken boy's other side.  
“Too much, ok, but making him confess to Makoto TODAY, of all days, AND while drunk?! Hiyori, that's too … that's … I don't even have the words!”  
“I saw you laughing, you know you enjoyed it all!”  
“I DID NOT!”  
“You definitely did, don't even try to deny it!”  
“Fine, it was funny, but THIS RIGHT NOW is not! Why are WE bringing him to our place?”  
“Because we live the closest. What did you want to do, let him sleep it off at Nanase's? Or at Tachibana's? Well, that would have been funny now that I think about it....”  
“You're evil Hiyori, pure evil”  
“You still love me, so...”  
The couple continued bantering all the way home, ready to get some rest and see what was going to happen in their friends' lives.


	2. Hearts - Breaking and mending

**The next day....**

“Oh, you're finally awake!”, exclaimed Asahi, handing his best friend a glass of water and some medicine for the hangover headache he must obviously be suffering from, considering how much he had drank the evening before. Kisumi murmured some thanks before swallowing down the pills.

Still wondering exactly what had happened during Tachibana's birthday party for him to wake up in Asahi and Hiyori's apartment, the pink-haired young man dragged himself to the kitchen, following the heavenly aroma of freshly-made coffee that was wafting his way.

He found himself face to face with Hiyori, who was silently handing him a cup of coffee. Purple eyes sparkled, enjoying the unexpected offering, contained in the pink SugarBunnies cup that the couple living there had given to him for his last birthday. His joy, however, was short-lived. He slowly moved his gaze upwards, noticing the gray sweatpants, the black tank top hiding a muscular chest and well-defined abs – he was into a different guy, but he could still admit that his best friend had found himself a hottie – and finally reaching his face, still without his customary glasses, but dominated by a knowing smirk. Kisumi gulped. After knowing him for about two years, he was fully aware that such an expression usually meant trouble for the recipient. The brunette was a loyal friend, if sometimes too protective, a great swimmer, with a keen eye for pretty things, but what made everyone shiver was his saltiness. He enjoyed outwitting and sassing people, which made his getting together with Asahi that more surprising, since at first the redhead had been Hiyori's favourite target.

“Spill it Hiyori, what did you do?” sighed Kisumi.

“Now, now, why would I have actually done anything? You, on the other hand....” was the answer.

The pink-haired youth gulped, and watched his friend start a video on his phone. In it he saw himself, walking up to his long-time crush before kissing him and confessing! The video ended among the comments and laughs of the couple responsible. He groaned, letting his head fall against the cupboard's wooden surface. He was screwed, and not in a good way! How could he ever face Tachibana again after that?

“I'm guessing that you've told him what happened” said Asahi, entering the kitchen. Kisumi couldn't help but pout and glare: he was surrounded by two hot guys in love, his best friend still shirtless and glistening from his shower to the left, his equally hot boyfriend to the right, and himself? He had drunkenly wasted his chance to get together with his life-long crush! Life was so unfair!

“Look, I'll just leave, I need some time...”, he grumbled, letting himself out of his friends' apartment.

 

Nobody had seen Kisumi, or heard from him, for the past 2 weeks. He had skipped every lesson. He had skipped basketball club, had basically disappeared from Tokyo. Everyone was worried sick, especially Asahi and Hiyori, since they felt it was their fault. Nobody at Hidaka had heard form the pinkette, so they went to his uncle's real estate office, but not even Katsumi knew anything. He was actually rather preoccupied himself, since his nephew usually dropped by at least twice a week, either to help him or just for a visit. The breaking point was reached when Asahi received a phone call from Iwatobi that broke his heart. It was Hayato, Kisumi's little brother. The young boy was crying, asking him where had his big bro disappeared to, since he hadn't gotten in touch for weeks. It tore the redhead apart, hearing such sadness from the younger Shigino, but he couldn't tell him the truth. He was already pretty emotional, there was no way to predict how he'd take the news. Thus Asahi simply said that he was going to solve this mess as fast as he could, promising Hayato that he'd get his bubbly onii-chan back. Asahi steeled himself, composed the number of the first person he needed and waited, chewing his lip. He worried that they wouldn't answer the first time, but such thoughts were soon dispelled by the shriek that attempted to burst his eardrum through his phone.

“ASA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!”

 

Later that day, three young men were standing in front of Kisumi's apartment. Asahi and Makoto were silent, wondering if it was really a good idea, while Nagisa was literally vibrating with barely restrained energy. It was the redhead though that broke the silence.  
  
“Makoto, we're getting you in there, but YOU. MUST. CONFESS. TO. KISUMI.”

“Uh.... I guess I can do it, but how am I getting in?”

Nagisa took out from his backpack a large set of keys, grinning widely. He flipped through them, selected one tagged as KISSME, inserted it in the lock and slowly opened the door with a flourish. The other two exchanged a glance that clearly said _“You don't want to know”_ before the tall brunette was shoved inside and locked back in.

Makoto heard the sound of Kisumi's voice, accompanied by some soft music, so he went in that direction, finding himself at the entrance of the pinkette's bedroom. Looking in, he found him sitting in front of the window, holding a giant plushie of Ranmaru Kurosaki, one of UtaPri's characters and the apparent recipient of the boy's chatter, if the name RanRan was any indication. However, when he dared murmur a _Hi_ and his crush turned towards him, he found himself regretting his life choices, because Kisumi began pummeling with RanRan, all while shouting.

“YOU! What the hell are you doing here? Not even here am I safe from your idiocy? Those two bastards get enough liquid courage in me to finally confess and what do you do? YOU LAUGHED AND THANKED ME! What the fuck am I, the annoying relative you only see at festivities? SCREW YOU! I've been in love with you since middle school, you cretin!”

Makoto tried to get a word in, but the pinkette was relentless, continuing his verbal assault among the tears shining in his eyes.

“I just wanted you to notice me, but no, everything is always _Haru this, Haru that_ with you, and I've been dying inside!. I was actually HAPPY when Matsuoka started banging that ass, 'cause I thought I might have a chance, and then that evening happened! Get away from me Tachibana, please....” the last few words sounded muffled, because Kisumi was now leaning against Makoto's wide chest, crying his heart out. The brunette took a deep breath, slightly moved away from pink-haired boy and then delicately touched the tear-stained face with one hand, and began talking.

“You're right Kisumi, on all accounts. I've been a major idiot, especially because....” , he took another deep breath and continued, “I love you too Kisumi Shigino, I've been a fool not to tell you before, but please, let me make this right... be my boyfriend?”

The pinkette could only nod, overwhelmed, before finding his beloved's lips on his own, soft and velvety, a dream come true.

 

The kissing kept going for a long time, RanRan the only witness to the birth of the new couple.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The SugarBunnies cup I mention exist, and it appears mainly because Kisumi feels like a Sanrio boy to me, and the Bunnies share his birthday.
> 
> Ranmaru has the same seiyuu as Makoto, that's why I picked his plushie as Kisumi's comfort item

**Author's Note:**

> The "Condolences" scene came first, which meant Haru, despite me disliking him.  
> AsaHiyo because I could.


End file.
